Litany
by zarah joyce
Summary: Choi Young Do and Yoo Rachel's relationship from A to Z, in no particular order.
1. Bruises

When he showed up to school with a band-aid haphazardly covering one cheek, she fought the urge to give it too much attention. No one else did, after all.

Then again, not everyone knew about Dong Wook's predilection for physical violence.

She knew Young Do's wound was borne out of embarrassing circumstances. She'd once thought it laughable, how someone built like him could endure the heavy hand of a parent much smaller than himself.

But, now that she knew better, it infuriated her. How dare his father strike his own son?

"Ya, Yoo Rachel. You look like you're going to happily murder someone." He gave her a wide, insolent smile as he sat in front of her and said, "Should I get scared?"

"Maybe you should," she sneered, focusing her attention on his eyes instead of the mark on his flesh.

 _For your father._


	2. Ghosts

"Rachel-"

But the woman who turned - the woman whose arm he held - was not Rachel, but goddamnit she could have been.

"Sorry," he said, already turning on his heel.

It had been a few days since she'd just so thoroughly disappeared from his life without any prior indication. One moment she was on his bed, laughing and beautiful, and the next-

Young Do clenched his hands to fists. His phone remained silent, its battery drained - a testament to just how much of it he used just to try and place a call to her that never connected.

Esther Lee refused to talk to him. That alone made him realize that Rachel hadn't merely gone somewhere else - she'd left.

Left _him_.

A pity that talking to her mother had been his one and only recourse; it's not like Rachel had any friends around.

But he would not, under all things holy and fucking bright, ask help from Kim Tan. Last Young Do knew, Rachel hated that second son more than anything, and she'd be damned to ask help from _him_ , of all people.

Which meant that, technically, no one in Korea knew where she'd gone.

He swore. Anger and something even more potent brewed under his skin.

Yoo Rachel was going to be the death of him, he was sure of it.

But he would have to find her first.


	3. Roadblock

"...What."

"Well, don't get too excited on my account. How's my favorite sister doing?"

"One, you have no sister. Two, _I'm_ not your sister. Three-"

"You've been well, I take it?"

"Relatively speaking."

"Good to hear. I wouldn't know that, since you haven't been calling me."

"I didn't realize I was obligated to do that."

"Oppa's obligating you now."

"...no."

"No?"

"No."

"Ya, Rachel!"

"What? Don't you realize you're wasting both our time with this inane call?"

"It's lunchtime. Aren't you on a break?"

"Define 'break'."

"Are you eating?"

"I have work to do."

"You're not eating?"

"I said, I have work to do."

"You're at the office?"

"...why?"

"I'll be right over. And, Rachel?"

" _What_."

"If your secretary blocks me again, you'll have to get your cleaning personnel ready afterwards. Understand?"

"What?"

 _Beep_.

* * *

"Ya, Young Do!"

"Oh, my sister is calling? What a lovely surprise. Why is she calling, I wonder? Could it be because of something I did? Or something she did?"

"You idiot! You- you're such a-"

"Aish. Reducing you to inane bumbling has always been music to my ears. Do you think I can-"

"In case you've already forgotten, you wrecked my elevator door. My clients had to take the stairs. It was embarrassing!"

"Well, I distinctly remember telling you that if your secretary blocks me from seeing you-"

"I was in a meeting, you asshole. I had no time to eat, let alone talk to you!"

"You should've taken a break. Don't they have a saying, health is wealth or some shit like that?"

"You're going to pay for the repairs of my elevator, or I swear I'm going to-"

"-do what?"

"Something. And you wouldn't know what hit you."

"Have I ever told you how turned on I am every time you threaten me?"

"Ass."

"It's true. If you were here, I would've proven it to you."

"Ugh, you disgust me."

"Now, now. We both know that isn't true."

"Ya, Young Do. You are going to send your best cleaning crew right this moment to fix your mess in my building. Understood?"

"And if I don't? Will you castrate me?"

"You'll just have to wait and see. And suffer, too."

"Ya, Rachel-"

 _Beep_.


	4. Venice

Maybe he should have asked Myung Soo to accompany him.

But almost as soon as the thought came, Young Do pushed it away with a grimace. Good thing he didn't.

He looked at his watch. He had just come from a dinner meeting, but just like most dinner meetings, he was unable to eat anything. Must be because of the dreary company and the even drearier topics they spoke about. Mergers and acquisitions, shit like that.

He sighed. His stomach was rumbling. Might as well order something from room service and get himself full before retiring for the night.

The sharp click-clack of heels caught his attention, but as soon as the sound registered, he ignored it.

Unfortunately, he had no time for pretty people in pretty heels.

And wasn't _that_ a sad thought.

"Choi Young Do?" came a familiar voice.

His attention baited again, he looked sideways - and saw Yoo Rachel looking at him.

He grinned. Heels, skirt, long curtain of hair, red, _red_ lips? Some things never changed. "Hello, Sister," he said, the words automatic in his mouth.

A not-quite smile ghosted her mouth. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for the elevator," he replied easily.

She rolled her eyes. "I meant _here_ , in Italy."

"Before I answer that - would you like to eat with me? I'm starving." He even placed a hand over his stomach and pathetically hunched.

He could practically hear the gears in her brain working. Then, "All right. But you're paying."

"Of course. Oppa did ask you out."

"You're not-" She closed that pretty mouth from spouting more along that train of thought. "Whatever. Let's go."

Young Do smirked.

Already tonight was looking to be quite interesting.


	5. Debts

She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

No.

This was not possible.

It just wasn't!

But there it was, his name scribbled neatly on the bulletin board - just a few minuscule spaces beneath her own.

 _3\. Choi, Young Do_

Someone beside her cleared his throat, and awareness flooded her system. She bit the inside of her cheek, and resolutely kept looking forward.

"Well, would you look at that," Young Do drawled, clearly amused. "Do you think there must be some kind of mistake? Aish, but there couldn't be any. Not in this prestigious institution. So that would mean-"

"I thought you were an idiot," she said through clenched teeth. She was sure - she was so sure - that she would win this. How...?

At that, Young Do laughed. "Ya, Yoo Rachel. Only goes to show you don't know everything, do you? Then again, if you _did_ know everything, you wouldn't have ended up second best."

Hearing that was like a shock through her system. Rachel faced him, mouth agape, clearly outraged. How dare he!

"I never really had much motivation to study, you know," he said, tucking his hands in his pockets, looking very much like an innocent boy revealing his secrets - that was, until his devious eyes gave him away. "Until now. Until you dared me. And now... here we are."

"You probably cheated," she scoffed.

"And you're just a sore loser. But a deal's a deal, isn't it?"

"I should count this one out of our agreement," she said, head held high.

Something told her that _that_ was the wrong thing to say. "You wouldn't want to do that," Young Do said, almost too casually. He stepped closer to her, and whispered softly to her ear:

"My suite, 7 PM. Don't be late. I _hate_ waiting."


End file.
